Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
John Dory
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the fish as you would a turbot.
In a fish kettle, add enough water to cover the fish and mix in the salt.
Poach and serve
Bring the water to a boil, then let it simmer for about 45 minutes, adjusting time based on the size of the fish.
Serve the fish in a neatly folded napkin, garnished with curled parsley and lemon slices.
Serve with lobster sauce, shrimp sauce, or melted butter in a tureen.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Fish + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,889 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- John dory fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked gently in simmering water until it flakes.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the poaching water so the fish is flavoured from the outside in.
The step that matters
Simmering the fish. Water that boils hard toughens the delicate proteins and breaks the flesh apart. Keeping it at a gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly and keeps it moist and tender.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, lemon):
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Marjoramfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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